


Nochebuena

by MultiFandomMess15



Category: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Presents, Fluff, Food, Friendship, Gift Exchange, High School, No Angst, No Smut, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Siblings, Slice of Life, Social Anxiety, nochebuena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiFandomMess15/pseuds/MultiFandomMess15
Summary: “Oh-well you could come over to my apartment for dinner if you- if you wanted to. You don’t have to at all. It’s just an idea.”Felicity knew he would just repeat things along the lines of “only if you want to” and “you don’t have to” if she didn’t answer instantly, so without even thinking she simply said, “sure.”“Really? I mean, awesome! You can come over on Nochebuena.”Or, Felicity spends Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) with her friend Dante Robles from Science class.
Relationships: Henry "Monty" Montague/Percy Newton
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	Nochebuena

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays Everyone! I just have a few notes:
> 
> -This is my first time writing for this fandom so if anyone is ooc I'm sorry.  
> -This is based off the North American school system, because I know nothing about the European one.   
> -I am not Spanish, so if anything in this is wrong I am really really sorry. I tried to do as much research as I could as I really wanted to write a Christmas fic about Dante, but because he's from Spain he would celebrate Christmas differently. 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy :)

The date was December 18, the students last day of school before their two week holiday break. 

The high school was filled with noise as Felicity sat in her pre-ap science class, her messy bun now resting upon her shoulders. Science class was the period Felicity most looked forward to. She had loved it since she was a little girl playing doctor with her stuffed animals, in which her mother quickly replaced with Barbie dolls. One day she would get into medical school. She knew it.

Sitting next to her was Dante Robles. Dante was about Felicity's age, but significantly taller. Just like Felicity, he had glasses, except his always seemed to be falling on top of his nose. Dante had moved to the US from Spain with his older sister about a year ago. Felicity didn’t know much about his sister other than that she was attending university for criminology and seemed to put her family above anything else. Nonetheless, Dante was a good lab partner. Felicity got rather lucky when the only seat not taken was next to him. They had a lot in common, and he also enjoyed science. Although much different than what Felicity was interested in, he had a passion for cryptology. His favourite pastime was translating ancient texts. However, as long as he liked some sort of science Felicity was fine. He was still very knowledgeable in chemistry though, maybe even slightly more than her (but she still had him beat in biology). His father was a famous chemist. Felicity had heard the name Mateu Robles even before meeting Dante. She didn’t ask about his dad though, as there must be a reason he didn’t come with Dante and his sister to America. 

“What are you doing over the break?” Felicity asked, lifting her head up from her current medical book. 

Dante did a small jump at the sound of her voice, glasses falling further down his nose, which he instantly pushed back up. “We’ve decided on staying here for the holidays. There-there’s no real point in flying back to Spain.” His accent was still quite thick, but Felicity really didn’t mind. 

“Why not?” Felicity asked, not really thinking. 

“Oh- well there’s no one to really see,” Dante replied, a flush falling over his cheeks. “What about you?” Dante spitted out, seeming eager to change the subject. As curious as Felicity was, she didn’t want to press where she didn’t have to, so she went along with it. 

“Well my family’s been kind of a mess since Monty decided to move out. My Mom insists upon having him over for dinner, but my Dad has banned it. Which just lead to fighting amongst the two of them. And my little brother, Adrian, is just there to witness it all.” 

“Oh-well you could come over to my apartment for dinner if you- if you wanted to. You don’t have to at all. It’s just an idea.”

Felicity knew he would just repeat things along the lines of “only if you want to” and “you don’t have to” if she didn’t answer instantly, so without even thinking she simply said, “sure.”

“Really? I mean, awesome! You can come over on Nochebuena.”

“What?”

“Nochebuena. Oh right. You’re um- we do a bunch of a- Spanish stuff, well not a bunch. Just like Spanish food. That’s about it. You don’t have to come over. It’s fine if you don’t. I really don’t mind.”

“Dante, I still wanna come over,” Dante’s face lit up at this. Monty would probably have said something about how bad he would be at poker. “I’m sure your Spanish Christmas will be better than whatever train wreck is going to happen at my house.”

Dante did a small laugh at that, his black hair starting to fall over his eyes. Seconds later, their ears were flooded with the sound of the bell. “Okay, well I’ll text you the details, and if you change your mind-”

“I won’t”

“Well if you do, that’s alright. I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.”

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“He invited you over for Christmas?” Felicity’s brother Monty stated, his body hurled beside his boyfriend Percy, the pair looking like otters floating down a river. Felicity usually went to their small apartment after school. Today though, the couple was extra lovey-dovey. 

“Not for Christmas. For Nochebuena,” Felicity corrected, flopping onto one of their lounge chairs, letting her body relax for the first time that day.

“Nocha- what now?” Monty voiced. 

“Nochebuena,” Felicity stated, sipping on the hot chocolate she had made for herself. No response from either of the young men. “Spanish for Christmas Eve,” she specified. 

“Well you should have started with that, also why are you speaking Spanish all of a sudden?”

“Remember,” Percy piped in, turning his head towards his blonde haired boyfriend. “Dante’s from Spain.”

“Oh right,” Monty recalled, turning his head towards Percy but quickly turning it back towards his sister. “Felicity's Spanish boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Felicity snapped, sitting up straight, splashes of hot chocolate landing her hoodie. 

“Well tell that to him, he’s head over heels for you,” Monty continued.

Felicity looked over at Percy who seemed to be nodding. “You agree with him!” 

“Monty’s right about this one. Dante definitely doesn’t just see you as just a friend.”

“Well that’s all I see him as. Besides, spending Christmas Eve with him will be better than whatever’s going to happen at home.” 

Monty slouched back at this, Percy rubbing his arm. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Felicity’s Christmas Eve had mostly consisted of having to hear her parents argue over whether Monty was coming or not. To her father’s dismay, they eventually settled on yes. Felicity was luckily almost at Dante’s apartment, leaving just in time to not see Monty. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy her time with her brother, it’s that she didn’t like how both her parents got when he was around. 

Felicity’s mother had been the one to offer her a drive. She was also the one to help Felicity get ready and would refuse to let her leave in anything other than a dress. Luckily though, Felicity had convinced her mother that a cherry red sweater and black jeans was acceptable enough for the occasion. The deal was that she could wear that, but her hair was getting curled. And Felicity would rather be stuck with some “overly done” hair then in a dress all evening. Throughout the drive it was obvious that Felicity's mom’s mind had wandered by the fact she didn’t even ask who’s residence Felicity was spending the evening at. 

“What time do you want to be picked up?” she eventually voiced, the faint Christmas music from the radio playing in the background. 

“Can I let you know later?” Felicity asked  
.   
“Sure Felicity,” the woman gave her daughter a faint smile, and Felicity hopped out of the car, the van quickly closing and then driving away. 

Both of Felicity's hands were occupied by gifts. One for Dante, and the other some carnation flowers for his sister. Felicity meandered into the apartment building. Just from her first step through the huge glass doors, she could tell it was much fancier than the one of Monty and Percy. She was greeted by a man, tall and wearing a suit with very many buttons. 

“Welcome, how may I help you?” The man said, as she padded over to the marble counter he was standing behind. 

“I’m here to see Dante and Helena Robles. They should be expecting me.” 

“Right of course.” The man looked at his pearl white desktop. “Felicity?”

“That would be me.” 

“Excellent. They are on floor 8, room number 12.”

“Thank you,” Felicity added, and made her way to the elevator. Another man, in the same outfit as the first pressed the button for her. 

Felicity didn’t usually feel nervous, but she didn’t really know what to expect. Sure she and Dante had become good friends, but she’d never met his sister. Was she like him? Was she completely different? All these thoughts invaded her head as the elevator went up, floor by floor. 

Bing, the almost mirror-like doors slid open. She had reached floor 8. Felicity made her way down the long hallways. Her black converse roaming on top of softly carpeted floors until she was in front of room number 12. Then her hand, almost thinking for itself, reached out and knocked upon the bone white door. 

Within seconds the door flew open to reveal a woman, a woman with hair as long and thick as a black ocean and a glare sharp enough to cut through stone. It was also hard not to notice her dress. It looked as if made for her, like she was the only person in the world capable of wearing it.

“Felicity?” she inferred, her accent just as thick as Dante’s. 

“That’s me,” Felicity acknowledged. 

“Come in. I’m Dante’s sister, Helena. Let me take your coat,” she said offering her hand out. Felicity took off her caramel brown coat, and surrendered it to the woman. She then placed all her gifts onto the floor, forgetting to give Helena the flowers. Helena stuck her coat into a small closet and continued talking, this time in what Felicity assumed was Catalan, “Dante, el teu convidat, és aquí.”

Felicity swears she heard a small bang in the distance, then Dante walked out looking rather distraught. “Sorry-I was a,” then his eyes laid upon Felicity. And in that moment, she knew actually Monty was talking about. 

“Hi,” Felicity spoke. 

“I-hi,” the boy babbled, his cheeks becoming a lovely shade of scarlet. 

“Why don’t you show Felicity around while I prepare dinner,” Helena, thankfully, recommended.

“Sure um-, follow me,” he continued babbling. 

Felicity was shown where everything in the apartment was from the parlor to the bathroom. Then they made it to Dante’s room. “This is my room,” Dante stated, opening another white door. A room can show a lot about a person. Stepping into someone’s room can be like stepping directly into their mind. There was no better way to describe Dante’s room than filled with things. Bookshelves stacked with books. All over the linen coloured walls there were posters, photos, and paintings. Even the bed had multiple blankets, but tucked neatly in a corner, away from the mess, was a lizard. 

“I didn’t know you had a lizard,” Felicity exclaimed, bouncing over to the warmly light tank. 

“Yeah, he’s a bearded dragon,” Dante gushed, following her across the room.

“What’s his name?”

“Marcel. I named him when I was like 8.”

“I like it,” Felicity responded with a smile. Which caused Dante’s cheeks to light up again. “I used to catch frogs as a kid,” Felicity continued, looking back at the tank. “Of course my mom never let me keep them.”

“Pare always liked Marcel. The store we got lizard food from was right next to his favourite record shop. Every weekend we would go there.” Felicity had never seen Dante like this. He wasn’t thinking about what anyone might say, he was just letting the words flow out of his mouth like the autumn leaves blowing off a tree.

“Do you miss them?”

“What, I-um yeah-I uh- pardon?” Dante's cheeks suddenly became a darker shade of red. 

“Do you miss them?” Felicity inquired, her eyes meeting his dark ones.

“Yeah, well I- of course I do.”

“Well you can talk about it if you want.”

“Where do I even start,” Dante sighed, sitting down on his bed, his leg bouncing up and down. Then his eyes made their way towards his open bedroom door. “I don’t know how Helena would feel about me telling you this stuff.”

“Well, who am I going to tell?”

“No one, it’s just… I um- I’m sorry I can’t.” 

Now Felicity really was curious, but Dante was her friend and if he didn’t want to talk about that she would respect it. But that wouldn’t stop her from doing some research later. 

“Okay,” Felicity concluded, unsure what to do next. 

Just in time she heard Helena from the kitchen, “Dante, el sopar està a punt. Dinner is ready.”

Dante jumped up, stumbling out of the bedroom, Felicity following. The dining room was basically an extension of the kitchen. In the center of it was a table just big enough for 3 people. Lying on top of it was a delicate tablecloth and all kinds of food Felicity didn’t recognize. 

“What is everything?” Felicity asked Dante.

Although Helena was the one to reply instead, “Pavo Trufado de Navidad, stuffed Turkey. Sopa de mariscos, seafood soup. Shrimp and clams. Then for dessert, turrón. Is there anything you don’t like?”

“I’ll have everything,” Felicity answered with a smile. “Thank you for making all this food.”

“No worries. These recipes were my grandmother’s, it feels good to prepare a meal for the holidays.”

“What do you want to drink?” Dante inquired, getting up from his chair and making his way to the kitchen. 

“Water’s fine, thank you,” Felicity responded. 

Dante came back with two glasses of water and the three of them started eating.

“So, you share science class with Dante?” Helena eventually inquired. 

“Yeah, also this is really good,” Felicity responded with a mouth full of sopa de mariscos.

“Thank you. Dante, how do you like everything?”

“What? Oh um, it’s really good. It tastes just like Mare’s.”

A minuscule smile crept onto Helena’s face, but slowly faded. 

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The rest of the meal was rather uninteresting, awkward small talk and delicious food. After the meal was complete Felicity and Dante headed back to his room. 

“Did you like the food?” Dante promptly asked. “My mother usually makes it, but of course this year it was Helena.”

“It was delicious,” Felicity assured him. The urge to ask about his mother was strong, but that was for another time, right now she had a gift to give him. “Oh and I got you something.” Felicity made her way back to where she had entered and sat down her gift. By the time she came back, Dante was also holding a gift box. 

“So did I,” Dante added. 

“You can open yours first,” Felicity affirmed, basically shoving the gift in his hands. 

Dante carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal a book, not just any book, a cryptoquote puzzle book. “Felicity, thank you, thank you so much. You remembered how much I love cryptology! Thank you.” 

“I’m glad you like it,” Felicity laughed. “I guess it’s my turn.” 

Dante handed the box over to Felicity. The girl looked inside to see a coffee mug. One that read “Trust me, I’m almost a doctor.” 

“Oh my god Dante, I love it! This is amazing!” Felicity exclaimed holding the mug up. 

“I know how badly you want to be a doctor and I saw it and-”

“Thank you!” Felicity interrupted. 

And in that moment Felicity didn’t care about whatever was going on with Monty or her Father. She was just happy to be spending Christmas Eve with a friend, and a good one at that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! It really means a lot. I hope you enjoyed, happy holidays :)


End file.
